


Leather-bound Memories

by GirlOfShadows



Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-13 03:30:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3366095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlOfShadows/pseuds/GirlOfShadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You write about artefacts in your diary?"<br/>"Among other things."<br/>***<br/>It was common knowledge around Torchwood that Ianto Jones - receptionist and coffee-boy - kept a diary about his days there. No-one ever betrayed his trust by looking in it. Even when it was extremely tempting.<br/>Now though, two years after his death, Captain Jack finds it again and decides to have a read; delving into the past life of his past lover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. August 19, 2005

**August 19, 2005.**

I’ve never been one for keeping diaries, journals or any other kind of personal record, but there’s a first time for everything. I have to write this down - I have no idea what I’ll remember in the morning.

I met a woman today. Her name was Lisa and she was truly gorgeous. Happy birthday me! The lads and I were going out for some drinks to celebrate my turning twenty-two and I was running a bit late, so I said I’d meet them at the bar. It was on my way there that I met her. She was sitting alone on Gareth’s bench, crying. Now, I’ve always been brought up knowing empathy and sympathy so I naturally felt as though I should help her. Plus, I thought she was hot – even crying. I wanted to be her knight in shining armour – how bloody cheesy and pathetic is that?!

I approached her cautiously – I know what women are like about strange me coming up to them – and handed her a tissue. All gentlemanly, like. She took it gratefully and I took this as a cue that she didn’t mind me being there. So I sat down next to her, on that small bench, in the cold autumn night, to offer a shoulder to cry on… I digress.

Anyway, I introduced myself and she did the same, and I asked her what was wrong.

“Torchwood. Always bloody Torchwood.”

“What’s Torchwood?” I asked her.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she replied.  

I hated that. I was offering my support, and she automatically assumed things about my intellect. I went to university – I’m _smart_.

“How would you know?” I challenged. This seemed to spark something in her and she smiled. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and _smiled_ , and looked even prettier than she did crying. Yes, okay, I fancy her. But, believe me, only a fool wouldn’t.

We decided to go to the bar that I was supposed to be meeting the lads in. She said that I’d need a drink if she was going to explain. David spotted me first – I knew he was going to complain that I was late (again) but spotted Lisa, and winked with a smirk. He nudged Lloyd, who then looked over too. Soon the whole group of them were gesturing stupid things like ‘get in there my son’ and ‘waheyy’ at me. Luckily, Lisa didn’t see them.

We found ourselves a small table in the corner of the bar and she proceeded to tell me all about this mystery Torchwood – who they were, what they did, her role with them. It seemed as though she was pouring not only her heart, but her soul out to me; as if she’d been bottling everything up for so long, and was grateful for the release.

At first, I didn’t believe her. Of course, I didn’t tell her this though – not only was I unwilling to give her the satisfaction of being right, but I could tell that talking about it all helped her, was doing her good.

She told me that Torchwood found and dealt with aliens that had come through a rift in time. That there are three bases that she knows of – one here in London, one in Cardiff and another in Glasgow (though she’s unsure if they are still running).

“Aliens?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah! Wanna see?” I needed evidence – anyone would for such a far-fetched story. We left the bar, and she took me to an old warehouse. With an _incredible_ interior. Honestly, I can’t even begin to describe it. It was like no place I had ever seen – in reality or in any sci-fi film I had ever seen. I heard her laugh, and she took my hand, leading me down a corridor and into some vaults. Cells with glass doors lined the walls, and inside were creatures of all kinds of appearances. They definitely looked other-worldly.

“Believe me now?” She asked with a smirk. I simply stared at the creatures – the _aliens._

She took me back up to the base and told me that she was in charge of HR there, which stands for something different in Torchwood-land. It apparently means ‘Have to Retcon’ (Retcon = a drug they use containing amnesia. They use this on witnesses). She told me about how, earlier tonight, she had to give the drug to her parents. That she had to erase every memory they had of her. I don’t know how she did it, with a simple pill, or why, but I knew that it was affecting her. Badly. (I can’t even begin to understand how that must feel, poor girl.)

“I have no-one now,” she told me. “No-one except bloody Torchwood.”

“You have me,” I said softly. She smiled. Sadly.

“Not for long, Ianto Jones, though I hope that you remember me.”

I knew then that she’d spiked my drink back at the bar. That I had become another victim of this Retcon drug. That I was going to forget. But something about her words – _I hope that you remember me_ – made me think that she didn’t want to do it. She walked me home; saw that I got in safely…

I don’t feel sleepy yet, though I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay awake, which is why I’m writing this now. I want to remember the things that I have seen tonight, the things that she has told me. I want to remember _her_ and Torchwood. I want to remember that this is --------------


	2. 20th August, 2005

**August 20, 2005**

I woke up this morning and my head was pounding. I thought I had one hell of a hangover, and, judging by the fact that I couldn’t remember anything that happened, I knew that it must have been a great night. I called David, and asked him if I’d done anything embarrassing.

“Can’t remember her? Must have been completely smashed! She was hot mate – what happened? Was our wee Welshie fucked and chucked?” He’s always like this, David – everything’s about sex with him. Has been since he knew what his penis was for. I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me (why do we do that? Pull expressions on the phone, knowing the person on the other end can’t see a thing. We’re bizarre with our little ways, really; us humans…)

“’Wee’ is a Scottish term, not Welsh. And no-one ‘fucks and chucks’ Ianto Jones.” No-one fucks Ianto Jones, full stop, but David didn’t need to know that. After half an hour of him laughing at the fact that I couldn’t remember anything, I went into the kitchen to brew myself a nice strong coffee. As the kettle was boiling I decided to get dressed, and headed back into my bedroom where I found this book on the bedside table.

I read through yesterday’s entry

And remembered.

Memories came flooding back to me about Lisa and what she’d told me – what she’d shown me. Torchwood, the aliens in the cells, the Retcon. Everything began to slot back into place, and I felt the need to see her again. To go back to that place; to be part of a world only one would ever dream about in childhood fantasies.

I had read that I’d met her on Gareth’s bench and decided that it would be worth a shot. It might be a regular place for her to go to, though I’d never seen her there before yesterday. Still, I knew I had to try.

The bench was empty when I got there. I sat for ten minutes, watching the world go by. Nothing.

Half an hour. Nothing.

An hour – still nothing.

Images of yesterday – _memories_ – were whizzing round my head like an out of control hurricane. I fished out my small notebook from the inside pocket of my jacket and began sketching out one of the creatures I saw yesterday. I don’t know how much time passed before I was disturbed.

“That’s quite some drawing!”

I looked up. It was her!

“Lisa…”

“You remembered…” Her voice was soft as she smiled, taking a seat next to me on the bench. I nodded. She looked happy – glad – that I had. That I still knew who she was. I tucked my notebook back inside my jacket and turned, biting my lip slightly. I had to ask her – had to find out if there was a job at Torchwood. A place for me among the things from other worlds – a place for me in _her_ world. To my surprise, she nodded. She also warned me though, that Torchwood did not know this yet, but she’d get me in.

On one condition.

I knew there was no question about it – I would do anything it took to be part of that team. With no hesitation, I agreed.

The plan was that I’d conveniently be in the same area that they needed to investigate due to a recent alien attack. I would help out by saying and doing things that Lisa had told me to say and do, and Torchwood would see what a wonderful improvement to the team I’d make and take me on. It sounded so simple.

I did everything that Lisa and I had discussed to each crossed 't' and dotted 'i'. Torchwood saw how good I was, thanked me for my work, but then proceeded to order Lisa to Retcon me. Obviously she refused, and they had no choice but to hire me.

I was taken back to the base and the team fixed me up a work station by Lisa’s.

“You’re the reason he’s here,” Yvonne (the boss) told Lisa. “You look after him.”

I get the feeling that this Yvonne doesn’t like me much. I don’t mind though – I’ll soon show her that I can be good for the team. Lisa introduced me to the others (all scientists, obviously); Dr. Rajesh Singh, Samuel Smith and Adeola Oshodi. They seemed to give me a different welcome. Lisa reckons they like “fresh blood”. I don’t know how to feel about that.

My first proper day as Torchwood’s new Junior Researcher (how posh does that sound?!) starts tomorrow. I want to make a great impression and not cock things up. I’m _never_ going to regret spending my birthday helping a random upset girl instead of having drinks with my mates. I can already tell.


	3. August 22, 2005

**August 22 nd, 2005**

So I’ve done two full days at Torchwood now and already I’ve made a mess of things (literally). Yesterday, I accidentally crashed the computer system, allowing one of the creatures in the cells to break out and run rampant around the base, knocking things everywhere, tripping more wires, disorganising paperwork and almost killing Yvonne. If she didn’t hate me already…

I spent the rest of the day apologising and trying to make it up to the team. Lisa, bless her, told me not to worry; that the base has seen worse days. But I tried to help anyway by offering to clean up everything. Yvonne was quick to agree to that! Lisa stayed with me after the others went home. I still don’t truly know whether it was off of her own back, or because she was told to, but I appreciated the company anyway. Also, we went for a drink together once the base was back to Torchwood standard, so it wasn’t all bad!

I was asked to join the team on a case (?? Task? Mission?) today, probably so that I wouldn’t be at the base on my own, although Lisa reckons that Yvonne’s claiming it’s to get me some first-hand experience. I really hope that I can impress that woman soon, because this is a job that is too good to hate because of a grumpy boss (or get fired from! _SN: Check – actually – what happens to those that do get fired or leave. Surely it will be risky to let them take the information out into the general public?_ ).

What we had to do was follow and catch a creature like one of the ones that I saw in the vaults the other day. Lisa called it a “weevil”, and said that they usually live in the sewers, but come up occasionally. Apparently, the other Torchwood team have problems with them in Wales too. I have to admit, I didn’t care for them. They’re grumpier than Yvonne (though she is a bit more attractive, I must admit!) and an absolute _bugger_ to catch!

Before we headed out, Yvonne made me go with Lisa down to a room just past the vaults. When we got inside, there were many targets everywhere and a huge case full of guns and weapons on the wall by the door. I suddenly knew what it meant – Yvonne trusted me enough to let me handle weapons (although, apparently she didn’t trust me enough to teach me herself. I don’t mind at all though – Lisa and I got, well, close. But I won’t go on too much about that…). Lisa told me that I was a natural. Obviously.

Once she was happy that I could handle the gun I was given, Lisa gave me a quick peck on the cheek (yes, that _is_ an important detail of my first weevil hunt) and told me to stick by her and I’d be fine. Then we re-joined the team in the base and headed out into the streets of London.

It was amazing – the thrill of the chase, the authority Torchwood has over the streets of London, the whole dealing-with-aliens business. _I_ found the weevil in half an hour flat. By myself. Singlehandedly. With no real knowledge of the thing. But this still didn’t impress Yvonne. Apparently, my gun training was all for nothing, as we’re not actually meant to shoot them when we find one. Lisa had my side though, and said it would be fine as I only shot it in the leg; not enough to kill it, but enough to save us all. She has medical knowledge too. It’s definitely true that brainy is sexy! Clearly wasn’t enough though – obviously dear Yvonne _wants_ one of them to rip us to shreds. Rip _me_ to shreds, at least.

I was proud, though, of catching the thing, and celebrated down the pub with Lisa. She told me not to worry about Yvonne – apparently, she was the same on Lisa’s first few days too.

“She’ll warm up and see what a great guy you are soon,” she told me, which meant a lot to me, not just because – _yes_ – I fancy her, but because she’s saying such things without even knowing me for long. It’s just nice to hear about yourself, y’know?

The toughest part about being part of this wonderful new world so far has to be the secrecy. David called me when I got home from the pub, and asked me “where the hell” I’ve “disappeared” to. He joked that “the fit girl” had murdered me. I couldn’t tell him that I had suddenly quit my job because I had found a _much_ better one dealing with aliens. For one, it’s against Torchwood policy, and two; he’d never believe me anyway. I just said that I was ill. He seemed to buy it.

Another day tomorrow – another day to try and impress Yvonne. Maybe I’ll win her over with a nice steaming mug of my speciality coffee? That usually does the trick!


	4. August 28, 2005

**August 28 th, 2005**

It’s been a week now since I joined Torchwood, and already I’m feeling the changes in my life. I look forward to work every day – in fact, I’ve stopped thinking of it as work. Even this early on. It’s truly wonderful; the things I’ve seen and dealt with in such a short amount of days. It’s crazy – before Torchwood I’d have never have believed that half of the things I’ve seen in the archives could have existed in a fantasy novel, let alone _London_. I knew moving would be the making of me! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I miss my home in Wales, but I don’t regret taking that office job here in the slightest. Look where it’s lead!

I’m writing this during a spare ten minutes I have found whilst my computer system runs some scans. Today we’re dealing with an egg from an alien species that Lisa called the Racnoss. They sound like my worst nightmare, if I’m totally honest. Large human-spider mutant things. I hate spiders.

“You think they’re bad? Wait until you see the Empress. Now _she’s_ a beast!” Lisa really uplifts my spirit with this job! (Note: heavy sarcasm.)

I did a bit of research on them before we went out, and apparently their place of origin is somewhere called the Mutter’s Spiral. Also known as the Milky Way. Our galaxy. These creatures come from the same place as us, and I don’t know whether that terrifies or amazes me.

Apparently Torchwood had a run-in with them a couple of years ago and negotiated between the two species (us and them) that they can stay on this planet so long as they stay out of sight and do not harm our people. The Empress, loving Earth, decided to agree upon this. Thank God. But now they’re sending eggs. Which doesn’t seem like a good sign to me.

 

UPDATE: So the day is over and now I can write more about the human-spider egg. We ran several scans on it to find out how long it has been…out in the open, so to speak. Away from the Racnoss nest. We also needed to find out if it had been fertilised or not and why it was here and not with them.

Lisa showed me an alien device which was like a glorified x-ray scanner. She also showed me how it worked, then let me scan the egg with it myself. The results immediately appeared on our computer screens. At first, the egg looked completely empty, but then we zoomed the scanner in a bit and found etchings on the inside of the shell. Like ancient hieroglyphics. We copied them out (freehand – apparently, amongst all the technology Torchwood owns, they don’t have something to copy spider drawings straight to the computer. Personally, I think they’re slacking and I am highly disappointed!), and ran scans on them too.

We figured out that the egg was here for Torchwood specifically. Apparently the drawings were a warning to us and meant “3-3 danger help protect interfere”. At first we had no idea what that could mean (obviously that someone was in danger and we needed to protect them. We got that alright. But 3-3? ) so we gave the results to Yvonne. Lisa made out that I had done all of the work and she was – wait for it – _impressed_.

“You’ve done a good job here, Jones,” she _smiled_ (gasp!). “Perhaps you do have your uses here, after all.” I try not to let the memory of that second sentence override the first.

Whilst Yvonne worked out the meaning behind 3-3, she dismissed us all for lunch. Lisa, Rajesh, Adeola and I all went to the local pub, but Sam decided to go home. Apparently he’s not one for team pub lunches. “Team _anything_ , really. Keeps himself to himself most of the time.” Lisa told me.

We all had a right laugh, especially about Yvonne. Lisa kept reminding me about her smiling and the others all told me that she was the same on their first weeks.

“I think she’s still not happy with me working there,” Adeola grinned, as if it was a joke.

“She’s a bit of a…lone wolf.” Rajesh told me. I could definitely see that. They told me about how they came to work for Torchwood, and what they knew about the other teams.

“We met the leader of Three once,” said Adeola. “I swear; he’s what we should be hunting – his looks are _out of this world_.” We all groaned at the cheesy pun.

“She’s right though,” Rajesh admitted. “Isn’t she, Leese?” Lisa shrugged.

“Not really my type,” she said, glancing at me with a small smile. I don’t know if she was just saying that or not, but it made me happier anyway. I finally looked away from her and feigned interest in what they were saying (my mind was on Lisa now though. Not going to lie!)

“How many more of them are there?” I asked. “In Torchwood Three.”

“Two – three of them in total.” Adeola told me. “There’s the leader – Captain Jack Harkness, an Asian girl with brains on her like you wouldn’t believe, and a Cockney; I think he’s the medic. He’s hot too.” Rajesh nodded in agreement, laughing. The others, including Lisa too now, started talking about Torchwood Three and the one time they met them early last year. I wasn’t paying attention – something about what Adeola had said was playing in my mind. Suddenly, it clicked.

I never like doing this as I always feel rude, but I suddenly got up and left with no explanation. I had to see Yvonne immediately.

She was surprised to see me back early, making a remark about me not wanting to look “too eager”. I ignored it and cut straight to the chase, asking her if she had worked out the meaning behind 3-3 yet. She admitted that she hadn’t.

“I think I know what it means.” I told her that I thought it was something to do with the Torchwood team and Wales. Torchwood _Three_ with _three_ members. They were in trouble and we had to help before the Empress of the Racnoss involved herself. She looked at me for a moment before she smiled. Again. Twice in one day – I felt that little snippet of information worth putting on record. Anyway…

Yvonne called the others back and we immediately got to work sending messages to T3, warning them about the egg. Yvonne arranged that she’d visit them in tomorrow, and asked Lisa and I to join her, which I think annoyed the others a little. As bad as it sounds, I don’t care though!

I should probably wrap this up now – Lisa’s coming to pick me up early in the morning. Tomorrow should be an interesting day!


End file.
